Black and Blue
by ThievingDuck
Summary: Cats are being killed by a mysterious force. The Clans are plunged into Chaos when the cats starting accusing each other of murder. With hidden enemies and shaky alliances, will the Clan cats be able to pull them selves out of this one? Or will their lives crumble to dust around them.
1. Chapter 1

Hello! ThievingDuck here! So this is my first ever fanfic so I really hope that you all lovely readers like it! This is a story for my friends and myself's enjoyment to see if I can write fanfiction! Please do not hesitate to give me feed back. Positive or Negative! Love you all. :)

P.S. To my best friend (you know who you are) I'm sorry...

Allegiance

ThunderClan

Leader - Leafstar Brown she-cat w/ green eyes

Deputy - Smokestorm Dark grey tom w/ misty blue eyes

Apprentice, Adderpaw

Medicine cat - Maplewing Tortoiseshell she-cat w/ green eyes

Warriors -

Sunnydream Golden she-cat w/ blue eyes

Apprentice, Snowpaw

Badgerclaw Dark brown tom w/ one yellow eye

Willowcloud Pure white she-cat w/ green eyes

Apprentice, Pebblepaw

Flameflare Bright orange tom w/ grey eyes

Ravenfrost Jet black tom w/ icy blue eyes

Foxstep Ginger she-cat w/ green eyes

Apprentice, Oakpaw

Sagefur Grey tom w/ black feet

Apprentice, Toadpaw

Sunstripe Golden tabby tom w/ white legs and belly

Mousestep Light brown she-cat w/ yellow eyes

Apprentices -

Toadpaw Black tom w/ brown legs and tail tip

Oakpaw Brown tom w/ yellow eyes

Snowpaw Pure white tom w/ grey eyes

Pebblepaw Grey she-cat w/ blue eyes

Adderpaw Light brown tom w/ a white chest and face

Queens -

Mossrunner Brown tabby she-cat w/ white feet expecting Badgerclaw's kits

Swiftsong Silver she-cat w/ green eyes Mother to Pinekit (Black she-cat w/ green eyes) and Silverkit (Silver tabby w/ blue eyes)

Petalfall Tortoiseshell she-cat w/ yellow eyes mother to Cedarkit (Brown tom w/ yellow eyes) and Blizzardkit (White she-cat w/ blue eyes)

Elders -

Whitenose White tom w/ grey eyes

Amberglow Ginger she-cat virtually blind

WindClan

Leader - Hawkstar Light brown tom w/ long, talon like claws

Deputy - Squirrelfoot Ginger tom w/ gash in his nose

Medicine Cat - Jayheart Molted grey she-cat w/ grey eyes

Apprentice, Harepaw

Warriors -

Redfur Ginger tabby tom

Apprentice, Stonepaw

Ashbreeze Grey she-cat w/ blue eyes

Spottedshadow Black tom w/ white spots

Heatherfoot Light brown she-cat w/ green eyes

Stormrunner Black and silver tom w/ blue eyes

Apprentices -

Harepaw Black tom w/ yellow eyes

Stonepaw Dark grey she-cat

Elders -

Rabbitfoot Brown she-cat w/ white feet

RiverClan

Leader - Minnowstar Brown tabby tom w/ blue eyes

Deputy - Icestorm Black and silver long furred she-cat w/ baby blue eyes

Apprentice, Thistlepaw

Medicine Cat - Mudfoot White tom w/ brown feet

Apprentice, Sparrowpaw

Warriors -

Silverfall Silver tabby she-cat

Mosswing Black and brown she-cat w/ green eyes

Apprentice, Whitepaw

Birchheart White tom w/ orange eyes

Apprentices -

Sparrowpaw Brown tabby she-cat

Whitepaw White Tom w/ blue eyes

Thistlepaw Brown and black she-cat w/ blue eyes

Queens -

Gingerstream Orange and white long furred tabby she-cat expecting Minnowstar's kits

Elders -

Mistyfall Grey tom w/ blue eyes

ShadowClan

Leader - Darkstar Black she-cat w/ blue eyes

Deputy - Wolfclaw Grey she-cat w/ blue eyes

Medicine cat - Skystorm White and grey she-cat

Warriors -

Mousetail Dark brown tom w/ a stubby tail

Apprentice, Thrushpaw (Brown tom w/ a white tail)

Volenose Brown she-cat w/ blue eyes

Blackjaw Grey tom w/ a black face

Queens -

Daisyfoot Cream she-cat w/ white patches mother to Cloudkit, Nightkit, and Cinderkit

Petalfall Ginger she-cat w/ blue eyes mother to Lizardkit, and Tigerkit

Twistedsong Black she-cat w/ twisted tail expecting Mousetail's kits

Prologue

The wind howling through the treetops shook the branches violently, sending orange leaves to the forest floor. The rain pelted the forest and sent every creature underneath running for cover. Except for a few. Dark shapes crowded around a small Oak tree, bright eyes shining in the darkness.

A small black shape wiggled through the much larger shadows, fur on end. One shadow turned, blue eyes narrowed and suspicious. The blue eyes turned to the shadow behind the smaller one. "Where'd you pick this one up?" Blue eyes said, turning to the small one. "The Horseplace?" The fur along the small one's back stood on end under Blue eye's suppressive gaze. "The moor." The shadow behind the smaller one replied in a irritated voice. "And stop tormenting them. They're here to learn, not be scared half to death." Here to learn, code word. Blue eyes understood. The shadow cocked its head in an arrogant sort of way. "Well. I think that covers it." The shadow made its way through the crowd, the smaller one in tow. The shadows made a ragged circle around the larger shadow and the smaller one, ears flat against the rain.

A thin slapping sound came from the distance and three twolegs came running past, pink skin covered with colorful furs. The light in one of the twoleg's hand caught the eye of the larger shadow; they were a dark, dark, shade of blue.

Dark Blue Eyes turned to the smaller shadow, who was shaking, before turning to the rest of the shadows. "Well, I'm sure you all will make Buzzardpaw feel _very_ welcomed. Right?"

"Yes, sir." Came the synchronized response. Dark Blue Eyes nodded. "Good." Before standing up and walking nonchalantly out of the circle. "You have fun without me. I'm going for a little walk." Dark Blue Eyes walked away, waving its tail. Not even stopping to look back at the sound of tearing flesh and shrill screams.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1

"EEEEKKK!" Silverkit shrieked as Pinekit threw a moss ball aimed directly for her head. Ducking, the moss ball soared over Silverkit's head and bounced into Cedarkit. "Oof!" Cedarkit groaned as the moss ball knocked him over. Pinekit giggled and Blizzardkit came up on Pinekit's right and nudged her. "Nice one, you knocked him off his feet!" She exclaimed. Cedarkit glared at the three she-cats as he shook moss of his ears. "Thanks a lot Silverkit! Great team work." He snapped. Silverkit giggled as Cedarkit stood up, moss hanging off his nose.

His attention snapped between the three she-cats as they started laughing hysterically. "What? What is it? What, whats so funny?" This only made them laugh harder and Pinekit coughed, she was laughing so hard. Blizzardkit tried to gesture to the moss on his nose but starting laughing agin half way through that Cedarkit sill and no idea what was going on. Cedarkit's eyes finally found the scrap of moss and blew it off his face, clearly unamused.

"What are you little rascals up to?" A deep voice sounded behind the kits. Silverkit and Pinekit whipped around to face the large dark shape of their father, Ravenfrost. "Papa!" Pinekit squealed as she and her sister hurled themselves at their father.

Swiftsong watched from afar the interactions between her mate and kits. She watched as Silverkit climbed on his back and Pinekit latched onto his tail. Swiftsong tilted her head to the side in confusion. She thought she saw a look of regret but it passed so quickly she couldn't be sure. She shook her head, she was imagining it.

To be completely honest, Swiftsong was glad the kits were playing with their father, they hardly got to see him with how many patrols he always had. She got worried for him sometimes. He hardly slept and demanded that he get the hardest and longest patrols. Ravenfrost always insisted he was fine, but Swiftsong doubted it.

Pinekit clung on to her father's tail as he swung it back and forth, screaming in delight. She could here her mother yelling for her father to stop, but Pinekit couldn't care less. Ravenfrost's tail started to slow down and Pinekit reluctantly opened her eyes. Pinekit looked up Ravenfrost's tail to his rump where Silverkit lay, eyes wide and face grinning. "That was awesome!" She squeaked. Pinekit had been so focused on not falling off, that she didn't realize that Ravenfrost was not only swinging his tail, but bounding around camp. Letting out the breath she din't realize she was holding, Pinekit slid of Ravenfrost's tail, quickly followed by Silverkit.

Swiftsong rushed to her kits and immediately started licking their heads, ignoring their sounds of protest. "Are you alright?" She asked, green eyes wide with concern. Pinekit grinned. "That was awesome!" Her fur was sticking up in every direction. Ravenfrost smiled, obviously happy about his daughter's enjoyment from the tail swishing. "Come on," he said, nodding his head to his family. "Lets have some prey." Silverkit immediately perked up, food being the one thing she enjoyed the most. She bolted past her mother as Swiftsong started to stand up and rushed to the fresh-kill pile near the middle of camp and pounced on a mouse.

Pinekit sighed. She didn't want mouse, but her sister and herself had made a deal that the first one to the pile got to choose what they ate. The black she-cat trudged over to her younger sister, feet dragging in the dirt and tail low, and plopped down to eat. Pinekit much preferred birds to mammals, especially a nice, juicy thrush that she was eying across the pile. Looking to her left, Pinekit noticed that Silverkit was chowing down on the mouse, mouth full and blood on her muzzle. Pinekit starting gulping down the mouse, she knew better than to not eat her food. When you have a sister like Silverkit, its eat quick or don't eat at all.

By the time the She-cats finished their meal, Swiftsong and Ravenfrost finished their voles a long time ago, the sun was going down over the edges of their rocky home. Silverkit yawned, exhausted from their day of playing. Swiftsong stared down at her kits with affection, but glad she finally had a break. "Come on," she said quietly. "Lets gets some sleep." Pinekit nodded, slowly standing up and following her mother. They had gotten half way to the nursery before Swiftsong realized that her silver daughter wasn't following and had to backtrack, pick her up by the scruff, and carry the sleepy kit to the nursery.

Pinekit trudged into the nursery, head held low and eyes nearly closed. Cedarkit and Blizzardkit were already in their nest, curled against their mother's belly. Swiftsong gently placed Silverkit in her nest before curling around her as Pinekit laid down next to her sister. Silverkit's soft snores were relaxing and Pinekit had almost slipped into unconsciousness when a soft whisper woke her. "Pinekit." She raised her head blinking a bit before she noticed Cedarkit staring at her. Pinekit sighed, not wanting to do anything at the moment. "What?" She whispered back. Cedarkit wiggled out from under his older sister and sat down in front of Pinekit. "When do you think you will be made a apprentice?" Pinekit sat up a bit, her drowsiness shaking off. "Ravenfrost said just one more moon!" Her excitement about her apprenticeship coming back. Cedarkit grinned. "Your so lucky. I still have three more moons! Its not fair, we should be going through together." Pinekit chuckled. "I'm older than you. So, technically it is fair." Cedarkit flattened his ears. "What ever." He muttered. Pinekit smiled, before leaning over and giving him a quick lick on the shoulder before settling back into her mother's soft fur. "Good night Cedarkit." She said sleepily.

"Good night, Pinekit."

LINEBREAKSPACEYTHING-

A dark shape slips through the shadows, blue eyes bright and black silky pelt merges with the shadows. The half moon hangs coldly in the sky, far and distant. _Just like me._ The shadow thought to himself. At least, that's how its suppose to be. With everything that had happened recently it was amazing he was still coming every night. The shadow looked up, noticing the break in the trees ahead and speed up to the point that he was sprinting into the clearing.

The heels of his paws slowed the shadow to a stop near another shadow, who's grey pelt was standing on end. In front of the grey shadow was a small black shadow, blue eyes cold and distant as he faced his mentor. The Black shadow sighed, before turning to the grey shadow. "Stop this, you train him all day and all night, you'll kill him before his first battle." The grey shadow turned to the other, blue eyes boiling with anger. "Don't tell me how to train my apprentice! Leave this job to the professionals." The black shadow curled his lip, revealing long sharp fangs and his claws sank into the grass. He leaned in to the point that his face was inches from the grey shadow's a growl raising in the back of his throat. "I've been here much longer than you. I suggest you pay me some respect." He hissed in a low tone, imagining how it would feel to sink his claws into the fool's neck.

"Boys please. No need to fight, your both equal here." A she-cat's voice rose up from behind them. Turning around, the toms noticed the black she-cat as she emerged from the foil of a small bush, blue eyes staring at them maliciously. "Equally stupid." She added. The grey shadow narrowed his eyes. She let out a blood curdling laugh that sent a shiver up the apprentice's spine. "Oh, honey. Don't give me that look." She leaned in, face inches from their faces. "You know you're idiots." She grinned once more before the small apprentice behind the grey shadow caught her eye. The she-cat stalked between the toms, head held high and tail swishing across the black shadow's chin. She stopped a tail-length away from the apprentice and stared down at him with icy blue eyes that could stare into your soul. She sniffed at him before turning to address the grey shadow. "hows the apprentice progressing?" The grey shadow shuffled his feet uneasily under her penetrating stare. "He's doing great. Should be a warrior by next gathering." She nodded before turning sharply to the other tom. "And you? What is happening in your Clan?" The tom lifted his head to look her straight in the eye; he had know her for quite a while, never show fear was the number one rule. "It going great...boss." He hesitated, not really knowing who to call boss right now. The she-cat raised her head, obviously glad she had been addressed as 'boss'. The shadow cleared his throat. "We have several kits that will be apprenticed in the next few moons, and an Elder that is dying. Blind and nearly deaf. Should be an easy target. Would you like me to kill her boss?" The she-cat shook her head. "No. I'll send someone else in. But I do want to know more about this kits. Are any of them black? Blue eyes? Not so blue eyes? I need to know." The shadow gulped, his tail twitching nervously. "One of them is pure black-" She cut him off. "Wonderful! I want her apprenticed to you. Do what ever it takes but I want that kit ready to join our ranks immediately." The shadow looked down at his feet and fidgeted uncomfortably. She leaned down. "Well? Did you not hear me? I said IMMEDIATELY!" The shadow jumped as the she-cat started to yell and a flash of fear appeared in his eyes. "GO NOW!" She yelled again and the shadow fled the clearing into the forest. She cleared her throat. "I think that went rather nicely."


	3. Chapter 3

Hello all my lovely readers, ThievingDuck here! Sorry about not posting for a while, my brain refused to work with such simple scenes and I was procrastinating. But here It is! I hope you enjoy and tell me what you think! :)

Chapter 2

Sunlight filtering through the tree tops created a dappled pattern on the floor of the Elder's den. Whitenose was stretched out across the den, Amberglow on his right who was snoring softly. He looked over at his mate, smiling softly and gently licked the top of her head. Her ear flicked slightly and her snoring stopped momentarily before continuing. Amberglow groaned quietly, shifting slightly so that her flank was pushed against Whitenose's. She purred, looking up at her mate with nearly sightless and smiled. Whitenose licked her forehead. "Morning beautiful." He whispered softly. She chuckled. "I doubt its still morning. I sleep so much these days its probably well past sun-high." Whitenose smiled lovingly at the ginger she-cat. He nuzzled into her neck. "I love it when you get all technical." She groaned, moving away, teasing him with her tail across his face. "Don't be all gooey and 'in love' like that. Its almost sickening." He chuckled before standing up, joints popping and knees begging to sit back down. Whitenose looked down at his mate and asked, "I'm starving, want anything?" She looked up and replied with "just a mouse for me." He turned and stalked out of the den, into the main area of camp.

He sat down to groom his pelt and noticed that a hunting patrol had just come back with several mice and a pigeon. Whitenose smiled and approached the pile once they had set down and walked away. He picked a nice plump mouse of the pile and a small vole. As he turned to walk away a small black mound of fur crashed into him. It bounce off and as the mound of fur looked up at him he recognized her as Pinekit. "Pinekit! Why in such a hurry." She looked up at him, eyes wide, before darting between his legs and as the white tom turned around he saw her pounce on the new pigeon just as her sister, Silverkit, bounded up to the fresh kill pile.

Pinekit waved her tail, happy that she had finally beaten her sister to the fresh kill pile. She grinned down at a grumpy Silverkit. "We are having pigeon today, sister!" Pinekit said, overjoyed that she could finally have a nice, juicy pigeon. Silverkit huffed. A voice chuckled behind them and Pinekit turned around, noticing Whitenose was still there. "I see now why you were in such a hurry." Pinekit jumped off her meal and started dragging it off the pile, to not much success. Whitenose placed his fresh kill on the ground and reached over Pinekit, "Here, let me get that for you," and plucked the bird off the pile, setting it down in front of the black she-kit. She licked her lips, fur on end in excitement. Whitenose turned around to walk away but Silverkit called out. "Wait." He looked over his shoulder at the young she-kit. Silverkit shuffled her feet. "Can we eat with you and Amberglow? I love your stories." He smiled down at the two she-kits who were staring up at him expectantly. He turned back and beckoned with his tail. "Sure, come on in."

Pinekit quickly grabbed a mouth full of pigeon and started to drag it toward the Elder's den. Silverkit trotted up to her and bit down on the other end and together they carried the bird into the den, right behind Whitenose. Whitenose dropped the mouse in front of his mate before laying down on her left and dropping the vole on the ground. The two kits dropped the bird in front of the elders and Pinekit immediately started plucking feathers out. Amberglow purred in amusement. "What are you doing?" Pinekit looked up, eyes wide and mouth full of feathers. She blowed out the feathers and they flew around the den before floating down on the soft moss beds. "I'm collecting feathers for nests." Was her naive response. Amberglow smiled. "If you're going to collect feathers, those aren't the feathers you want." Pinekit tilted her head to the side and squinted her eyes, clearly confused. Amberglow purred again. "here," she said, curling her claws under the wing and lifting it up to reveal the soft, downy feathers underneath. "This is where its easiest to get the downy feathers." Silverkit was now perked up and paying attention to the old she-cat as well. Amberglow shuffled back slightly so that she was in a more comfortable position and leaded down to bite into her mouse. Whitenose was already halfway done with his vole as the she-kits started pulling out downy feathers from their pigeon.

After several minutes of plucking and pulling hunger over took them and Pinekit and Silverkit started chowing down on the bird. They sat in silence, each cat munching on their food. Pinekit leaned back slightly, completely full and glanced over at her sister, who was still eating. _Her stomach is like a bottomless pit._ She thought to herself. Pinekit turned to the elders, who were waiting patiently for the sisters to finish their bird. She cleared her throat awkwardly to get their attention. "Can you tell us a story, Amberglow?" She asked politely. Amberglow smiled. "Of course. How about I tell you when I first became an apprentice." This caught Silverkit's attention and she looked up expectantly, mouth full of bird. She swallowed before bouncing in excitement. "Yeah! Please tell us!" Amberglow smiled down at her again before a distant look glazed over her nearly sightless eyes.

"I was so excited. I wanted to be the best warrior the clan had ever seen. I became apprenticed to a tom named Shadewhisker-" Whitenose purred in amusement. "You had such a crush on him." Amberglow huffed. "Yeah, and look who I ended up with. Anyways, I wanted to be apprenticed to Shadewhisker but in stead I got apprenticed to a boring she-cat by the name of Honeydapple. My brother, Goosewing, got apprenticed to Shadewhisker instead."

"What happened to Goosewing?" Silverkit asked. Amberglow bowed her head in grief. "He was killed by a badger when we were young warriors. The same badger who gave me this." She twisted her body around to reveal a hideous scar across her spine that the kits hadn't noticed before. "I was in the medicine cat den for many moons." She continued. "The badger had also broken by leg, the only way that it got back the way it was, was to use an old method by our ancestors who first moved to this area from beyond the mountains." Pinekit and Silverkit listened to her in awe, eyes wide as she told her tale. "What was the method." Silverkit squeaked out quietly. "I had to swim." Pinekit gasped. "You had to swim! In the lake! Like a nasty RiverClan cat?" Amberglow hushed her. "Now, thats not very nice, just because they like to swim does not make them nasty." She sighed. "But yes, I did have to swim in the cold lake in order to regain my ability to walk correctly."

"Thats so cool." Silverkit sighed.

A yowl sounded from outside and the two sisters whipped their heads around to stare at the den entrance, confused about what that could be. They jumped to their feet and raced outside the Elder's den. Outside, in the main gathering area of camp, ThunderClan's leader, Leafstar, was sitting on the High Ledge. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below High ledge for a clan meeting." Pinekit and Silverkit looked at each other, their excitement mirrored in each other's eyes. "Do you think we're becoming apprentices?" Pinekit asked her sister. Silverkit grinned I hope so!" The she-kits rushed to the bottom of the ledge as cats started to file into camp. They sat down and stared up at their leader, eyes wide in anticipation.

Leafstar stepped forward, quieting the crowd with a flick of her tail. Her gaze swept over her Clan and with a glance down she noticed two kits, Silverkit and Pinekit, sitting at the base of high ledge. She purred in amusement to herself. _They probably think they are going to be apprenticed._ Leafstar returned her gaze to the gathering crowd. "ThunderClan. I have gathered you all here today to celebrate, today two apprentices will join the older cats in the warriors den as young warriors of our clan." Pinekit and Silverkit exchanged confused looks. "What?" Silverkit whispered. "Toadpaw, Oakpaw. Please step forward." Pinekit's gaze snapped up as two toms stood up and stalked up toward their leader. One had a sleek black pelt. His legs and tail tip looked like they were caked with mud, but it was just brown fur. Pinekit recognized him as Toadpaw and she turned her attention to his half-brother, Oakpaw. Even at such a young age Pinekit knew the story of Oakpaw. His father, a loner, had showed up with Oakpaw in his mouth and shoved the kit at his former mate, Willowcloud; explaining how rouges were after him and his son (which he had with a kittypet) was too young to get caught in the middle. Willowcloud had already lost her two daughters to sickness, so she accepted the kit without complaint. Oakpaw had a flowing brown pelt with wide yellow eyes that reminded Pinekit of an owl. The fur on the ends of his ears stood straight up, turning black on the tips. He flicked his tail tip as he followed Toadpaw up to high ledge.

Toadpaw bounded to a stop in front of Leafstar, tail flicking back and forth nervously. Leafstar looked down at the apprentice and purred warmly, trying to calm his nerves, which didn't work. She turned to the rest of the Clan and started with the ceremony. "I, Leafstar, leader of ThunderClan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down on this apprentice. He has trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn." She looked down at the antsy tom and continued, the look in her eyes proving that she was dead serious. "Toadpaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code and to protect and defend your Clan, even at the cost of your life?" Toadpaw swallowed. "I do." He stated slowly. "Then by the powers of StarClan, I give you your warrior name. Toadpaw, from this moment you will be known as Toadjump. StarClam honors your ability to fight with surprising strength and your loyalty to our Clan, and we welcome you as a full warrior of ThunderClan." Leafstar rested her head on top of the newly named Toadjump's and Toadjump licked Leafstar's shoulder. Toadjump turned and hopped off HighLedge, letting Oakpaw up next to their leader.

Leafstar repeated the process with Oakpaw, renaming him Oakblaze, noting his courage and intelligence. Pinekit and Silverkit stalked back to the nursery quietly, heads low as the Clan chanted Toadjump and Oakblaze's new names. The sisters trudged up to their mother who was chanting the new warrior's names with a smile on her face, green eyes sparkling in the sunhigh light. Pinekit grumbled under breath about not being an apprentice yet. Swiftsong purred, rubbing her daughters reassuringly. "Don't worry. You'll be an apprentice before you know it. Just be happy that you can still sleep in. Once you're an apprentice you'll have to get up early and fetch the moss for the elders." Silverkit looked up a look of horror appearing on her face as the gears turned in her head. "Wait." She said seriously, gaining the attention of her mother and sister. "Do we have to get that nasty thing from the medicine den like I saw Pebblepaw do and take that to the Elder's den?" Swiftsong nodded. "Thats called mouse bile. And you have to rub that on their fur to get the ticks off." Both she-kits curled their noses in disgust. "Gross!" they said at the same time, both starting to wonder if being an apprentice was such a good thing.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello everyone! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I had serious writers block, but all it all came flooding back to me today so I finally finished this chapter! Whoo! This is the longest chapter so far! I tried to get all the errors, but I'm only human! Please tell me what you think!**

Chapter 3

Pinekit awoke to someone poking her side. Groaning, she rolled over and swatted the paw away."Leave me alone." She mumbled, eyes still screwed shut.

"Wake up!" Silverkit hissed in her ear. Pinekit sat up, rubbing away the sleepiness from her eyes and turned to look at her silver tabby sister. Silverkit's eyes were wide and she was bouncing up and down in excitement. Pinekit stood up and stretched, fur sticking up at ever angle from her long rest. She popped open one eye to stare at her sister who was giving her a look at said, " _are you kidding me? Get your butt outside!"_ Sighing, the black kit stood up and followed her anxious sister outside, into the bright leaf-fall sun.

Leaf-fall had just started and a cold wind blew through the ThunderClan camp, chilling straight through to the bone of Pinekit who, unlike her sister, had a very thin pelt that did not provide much insulation. Glancing around the camp, Pinekit noticed that a lot of cats were still in camp, and that the fresh-kill pile was nearly empty. She frowned before turning to her sister. "So why did I need to get up?" Silverkit started bouncing again and a large grin split her face in half.

"We're going to be made apprentices!" Pinekit's jaw dropped.

"Really?" She asked, her excitement matching her sister's. Silverkit nodded, her entire body bobbing up and down as she did so.

"I heard Leafstar and Ravenfrost talking outside the nursery when they thought I was asleep. Its happening today!" Pinekit jumped up and tackled her sister. Silverkit let out a groan as she was bowled over by her older sister. "Silverkit, you're brilliant!" The silver tabby purred. Pinekit suddenly pulled back and Silverkit stood up, shaking out her fur.

"Wait," Pinekit started. "Who do you think our mentors will be?" Silverkit stopped, contemplating this new question. "Huh, never really thought about it." Looking back at Pinekit, Silverkit could see that she was blatantly worrying about who her mentor would be.

"Don't worry," Silverkit said reassuringly. "We'll get awesome mentors." Pinekit turned a worried look to her sister.

"You really think so?" Silverkit opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Leafstar. "All cats old enough to catch their own prey gather below High Ledge for a Clan meeting." The sisters turned to look at each other, eyes wide.

"Thats us." Silverkit whispered softly. Pinekit nodded and, as if in sync, they bolted off to the front of the crowd. Unfortunately, they were stopped in their tracks when Swiftsong drew her tail around them and pulled the rambunctious kits back. "You're not going any where until I get your fur under control." She said with an air of authority. The kits grumbled, Silverkit shook out her fur in annoyance. Swiftsong started licking flat the fur along Pinekit's head, causing the black she-kit to wiggle out of her mother's reach. "My fur's fine! Come on, we're going to be apprenticed, we don't have time for this." Silverkit wiggled out of her mother's grip as well and followed her older sister to High Ledge to be apprenticed.

Leafstar looked down at her clan mates from High Ledge. She glanced toward to bramble entrance as Smokestorm stalked into camp with his hunting patrol of Sunnydream, Snowpaw, and Oakblaze; each cat carrying prey. Leafstar moved her gaze toward the eager she-kits that were bounding toward her with their fur on end. She smiled.

Pinekit arrived at High Ledge first and sat at the base, tail twitching impatiently as she waited for her Leader to invite her up. Silverkit slid to a stop beside her sister and stared up at their Leader, ears swiveling back and forth nervously. "Pinekit, Silverkit, please step forward." Leafstar called down to the she-kits. Pinekit jumps forward and scurried up the steep ledge and lands at the paws Leafstar. Leafstar stared down at her and smiled encouragingly before turning serious.

"Pinekit,you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be know as Pinepaw. Your mentor will be Mousestep. I hope Mousestep will pass down all she knows on to you." Leafstar turned to look at Mousestep. "Mousestep, you are ready to take on your first apprentice. You have received excellent training from Greyshadow, who has since passed. You have shown yourself to be quick to act and an amazing hunter. You will be the mentor of Pinepaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Pinepaw."

Pinepaw jumped off of High Ledge and raced between her clan mates to Mousestep, who was sitting at the back of the crowd with her tail wrapped tightly around her paws. Mousestep narrowed her eyes as the young cat neared. She lowered her head to touch noses with Pinepaw. "I'll make you the best warrior ThunderClan has ever seen." Pinepaw's eyes shinned with happiness and sat down on Mousestep's left side, watching as her sister got renamed Silverpaw and apprenticed to Sunstripe. Silverpaw bounded toward her mentor and touched noses, excitement rippling underneath her pelt. "Pinepaw! Silverpaw! Pinepaw! Silverpaw!"

As the chanting faded out Pinepaw hopped over to her sister, green eyes bright. "I can't believe it! We're finally apprentices!" Her tail flicked back and forth as she spoke. Silverpaw nodded.

"I know right? I'm so excited to finally go outside the camp!"

"You can go right now if you want." A voice sounded behind them. Turning around, the sisters came face to face with Silverpaw's mentor, Sunstripe. The older tom's amber eyes were sparkling in the morning light and the light shining off his pelt gave him appearance of being on fire. _I see where he gets his name._ Pinepaw thought to herself.

Standing up, Sunstripe turned and headed toward Mousestep who was waiting patiently by the bramble entrance. Pinepaw exchanged an excited glance with her sister before running after their mentors. She watched Mousestep's long tail disappear into the brambles and quickly followed. Ducking under the bramble tendrils, Pinepaw slithered along the ground to avoid the brambles and pushed through a clump of ferns before finally getting her first glimpse of the forest.

She let out a gasp as she gazed up at the looming forest, tree tops growing orange and yellow in the coming leaf-fall. The dark branches of the trees stretched into the air like they were reaching for the sky. The black she-cat stared at the underbrush dead ahead that was slowly shriveling and dying, preparing for leaf-bare. "Wow." Pinepaw breathed out.

"I know right." Silverpaw said quietly, the same awed expression on her face. Mousestep sighed impatiently and stood up abruptly. She turned around and started walking into the underbrush.

"You're going to be left behind if you just sit there. Come on." Pinepaw and Silverpaw jumped up and followed Mousestep and Sunstripe as the disappeared into the bushes.

They walked in silence, the young apprentices admiring the forest as the warriors led them toward the WindClan border. Silverpaw turned to her mentor, finally thinking of where they were going. "Where are we going?" She asked. Turning to look back at her, Sunstripe replied with, "The WindClan border."

"They're the ones that hunt on the moor, right?" Pinepaw spoke up. Mousestep nodded at Pinepaw before turning to look at Sunstripe.

"I think its a mouse-brained idea to hunt up there, sun's always in your eyes." Pinepaw looked at her mentor curiously. "You've been up on the moor?" Mousestep nodded, as well as Sunstripe who had a distant look in his eyes.

"Once. They had a badger problem, we both were there to fight off the nasty buggers that tried to kill them." Now Mousestep had a distant look on her face. "Too many cats died that day."

"And more would have died if you hadn't come." All four cats whipped their heads to the left, eyes wide in surprise. To the left, not five tail-lengths away, was the stream that marked the WindClan border. Their sat three cats, a ginger tabby tom, a black and silver tom, and a dark grey she-cat. Pinepaw twitched her nose. They had been so absorbed in conversation, she didn't even smell them or hear the stream.

It was the Ginger tabby that had spoken and his green eyes were guarded, but thankful. Mousestep stepped forward, and dipped her head politely. "Redfur. Fancy meeting you here." He bowed his head and lowered his eyes, saying, "Thank you," he raised his eyes to stare at the brown she-cat. "You saved my mates life."Mousestep nodded and glanced toward the other cats in the patrol before returning her gaze to Redfur. "Is prey running well inWindClan?"

The black and silver tom purred. "The prey pile is always full and one of our warriors will be moving to the nursery soon." The tom glanced toward Redfur, who was puffing out his chest proudly. Sunstripe purred and sat down next to Mousestep, happy to talk to the WindClan cats in peace. "How is your mother, Stormrunner? I heard that she has been very ill." Sunstripe's meow turned dark and his eyes shone with worry. Stormrunner flicked his tail and his whiskers twitched with amusement.

"She will live to see the end of time; she never gives up a fight. Wether it be against warriors or whitecough." Sunstripe nodded.

"Who are those two?" Redfur speaks up, eyeing Pinepaw and SIlverpaw curiously. Pinepaw froze as all eyes turned to look at her. Pelt burning, she turned to give Mousestep a silent plea to introduce her for her. Mousestep got the message. Stepping back so the WindClan cats could she her better, Mousestep introduced Pinepaw.

"This is Pinepaw, my apprentice."

Pinepaw stepped forward and gave the ginger WindClan warrior a friendly nod. "Nice to meet you." Redfur nodded back and turned his attention to Silverpaw, who was staring up at the thick canopy overhead and watching as a thrush fluttered from one tree to another over head.

clearing his throat, Sunstripe poked his apprentice with a paw and flicked his ear toward the WindClan cats. Pelt hot with embarrassment, Silverpaw scrambled to her feet as stepped closer to the small stream that separated the two clans. "My name is Silverpaw." She glanced at Pinepaw. "Pinepaw is my sister and this is our first time out of camp." Redfur purred warmly. He looked down at the grey she-cat sitting on his left, her blue eyes wide as she watched the interactions between the clans.

"This is my apprentice, Stonepaw." Said cat nodded at the two sisters. Redfur twitched his whiskers and his eyes betrayed how proud he was of her. "She's going to be a warrior soon." Stonepaw's chest puffed out and she smile warmly at Pinepaw and Silverpaw.

"Being an apprentice is wonderful. You learn so many new things. you're going to love it!" A grin split across Pinepaw's face and she shared an excited glance with her sister. Sunstripe stood up, shaking out his golden fur.

"We better let you get on your way. You three can talk more at the next gathering." Stormrunner nodded and gave each cat a nice smile. The black and silver tom stood up and stretched his long forelegs. They had been sitting there longer than any of them thought. Redfur gave Mousestep a grateful smile and nodded to them.

"I owe you my life. May StarClan light your path." Redfur smile. "And you." With that, the WindClan patrol turned and bounded off to the moor, long legs stretching and tails streaming out behind them.

Pinepaw turned to her mentor, curiosity pricking her pelt. "I thought we weren't suppose to talk to other clans like that when it's not a gathering." Mousestep looked down at the black she-cat, her green eyes wide with anticipation. "WindClan and ThunderClan are at a truce right now. We saved so many cats in their clan when those badgers attacked that our leaders decided that we should form an alliance."

"An alliance against what?"

"...I'm not quite sure."

"..."

"Oh my StarClan! it's _huge_!" The two young apprentices stood tail lengths away from the lake, its dark waves lapping at the pebbles. Silverpaw's crisp blue eyes were wide and and she gazed across the water with stunned silence. Sunstripe sat next to Mousestep, sharing a knowing look between them. They remembered when they first visited the lake, how awed they were.

Pinepaw could not believe that it was this big. When she was a kit and everyone has told her about the lake, she expected something slightly bigger than the puddles that formed in camp after rain. She had no idea there was this much water in the world. Silverpaw turned to look at her sister. "Race you to the water!" And with that, she took of toward the body of water. Pinepaw tore after her sister, determined not to lose. Silverpaw reached the water's edge first and she stood, staring at the water. Pinepaw launched herself toward her sister and, despite the yowls of warning, Silverpaw did not see her coming and they both went tumbling into the freezing water.

Silverpaw and Pinepaw trudged out of the lake, pelts soaked through with water. Mousestep came forward and scowled at her apprentice. "Why in StarClan's name would you push your sister into the lake." Pinepaw growled, shaking water from her fur. "it was fun and games. Until she pulled we down with her." Pinepaw gave her sister a glare, but from the look in her eyes everyone could tell that they were just messing around.

"Come on." The brown she-cat meowed. "Lets get you back to camp before you both catch whitecough." Sunstripe gave his apprentice a look. "You know, we were going to go to the ShadowClan border, but now that you two decided to take it upon yourselves to get each other sick, I don't think you two get to finish the border today."

"Can we tomorrow?" Silverpaw asked, blue eyes wide and begging.

"Maybe."

Dark shadows slinked around the clearing tails low and eyes gleaming. Two shapes huddled close to another, icy blue eyes gazing toward dark blue ones. "We attack here first." Dark Blue eyes said, dragging its claw toward a section of their drawing in the dirt. It was crude representation of the lake and the territory around it. Icy Blue eyes looked up.

"Why? We should attack the Clan with the weaker elders first." Dark Blue eyes growled impatiently. "I am the leader here and I make the plans. Do you know nothing about clan life?" Dark Blue eyes pointed back to the map in the dirt. "If we send a spy from a different clan," it dragged it's claw toward a different clan. "Into here, then the cats with think that they attacked them and they will want to avenge the death of their elder. Plus, I hear from our spies in this clan that the son of their elder is very protective." Dark Blue eyes licked its lips.

"We can sit back and watch as the clans tear each other apart." Icy Blue eyes purred. "it's genius."

"Its called strategy. One thing all of you blubbering idiots seem to be lacking." Dark Blue eyes raised its voice so every cat in the clearing could hear its words. Icy Blue eyes turned to look over the crowd of their followers.

"Who would you like me send in to kill the elder." Dark Blue eyes gazed toward the cats, thinking on Icy Blue eye's words. It decided on a dark shadow toward the edge of the clearing who was licking blood from it's claws. "That one." Icy Blue eyes nodded, that cat was one of the best fighters in their group.

"I will announce the news." Icy Blue eyes hissed and stalked toward the cat of Dark Blue eyes choosing. The moon broke through the clouds over head and for a moment, it flashed down on the cats, turning Icy Blue eye's pelt from black, to brown.

 **Hope You guys like it! :)**


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